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Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

321 Insight Offers Curated Collection of Videos to Support Parents

321 Insight, an organization empowering all school staff to meet the needs of today’s students, has curated a collection of videos from their ParaSharp Series to meet the needs of a new group of learners: parents. This series is intended to support parents and caregivers in their newfound roles of facilitating their children’s remote education, prompted by COVID-19.

Research has documented for many years the connection between parental engagement and student achievement. Nearly half of district administrators say that engaging parents in supporting student learning at home is an important tool in their arsenal to ensure that their students are well-prepared for the future. The parent-focused series aims to help parents manage stress so they’re better equipped to manage the at-home virtual learning experience.

Due to the unique school environment this year, 321 Insight gathered these videos to lend essential skills to parents, which will be available through a district-wide login. The Parent-Access account includes a video series that helps caregivers create structure in the learning environment, avoid power struggles, use interventions to support positive behavior, and teach and reinforce both academic and social emotional skills to students.…Read More

Curriculum Associates Names 44 Teachers to the 2021 Class of Extraordinary Educators

Curriculum Associates has named 44 teachers to the 2021 class of Extraordinary Educators, an annual program that celebrates and connects exemplar teachers from around the country. This year’s 44 teachers from across 26 states and Washington, DC exhibit best-in-class use of i-Ready and/or Ready, illustrate growth and achievement via formal assessments, demonstrate innovation and engagement practices for students, are evangelists for high standards and student achievement, and have been teaching for at least two years.

“It goes without saying that this has been an unprecedented school year that has challenged educators, students, and families alike,” said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “However, this group of Extraordinary Educators—like so many other educators across the country—has more than risen to the occasion. We are proud to recognize these remarkable teachers for their hard work, dedication, and innovative best practices that continue to positively impact the students they serve.”

This year’s Extraordinary Educators, who were chosen from among hundreds of nominations, will have access to a network of peers from around the country to collaborate, connect, and learn from throughout the year, as well as receive unique professional development opportunities from Curriculum Associates. They will also be invited to participate and present at the Extraordinary Educators Leadership Summit, as well as other professional learning events throughout the year.…Read More

321 Insight Offers Curated Collection of Videos to Support Parents

321 Insight, an organization empowering all school staff to meet the needs of today’s students, has curated a collection of videos from their ParaSharp Series to meet the needs of a new group of learners: parents. This series is intended to support parents and caregivers in their newfound roles of facilitating their children’s remote education, prompted by COVID-19.

Research has documented for many years the connection between parental engagement and student achievement. Nearly half of district administrators say that engaging parents in supporting student learning at home is an important tool in their arsenal to ensure that their students are well-prepared for the future. The parent-focused series aims to help parents manage stress so they’re better equipped to manage the at-home virtual learning experience.

Due to the unique school environment this year, 321 Insight gathered these videos to lend essential skills to parents, which will be available through a district-wide login. The Parent-Access account includes a video series that helps caregivers create structure in the learning environment, avoid power struggles, use interventions to support positive behavior, and teach and reinforce both academic and social-emotional skills to students.…Read More

New McGraw Hill Assessment Solution Helps Teachers Support Students Who Have Fallen Behind Following COVID-19 Disruptions

As teachers prepare for classes to resume this fall, McGraw Hill today announced the launch of McGraw Hill Rise, a new reading and math supplement with embedded assessment and personalization to help educators identify and address individual learning gaps for each student. The new solution is intended to help ease the transition back to the new school year, regardless of teaching format, and ensure that every student is prepared to succeed this year and beyond.

 

“The extent to which COVID-19 has impacted student achievement, though uncertain, is likely significant. Teachers now, more than ever, need a consistent, convenient and customizable toolset to help document time on task and individual student progress through key learning objectives – all to help close those gaps,” said Sean Ryan, President of McGraw Hill’s School Group. “The use of data to make informed and personalized decisions is critical in determining where students are during and after a period of school disruption. Rise adapts and targets to each student’s needs helping educators create a comprehensive, individualized plan.”…Read More

eLumen Introduces Professional Services to Help Institutions of Higher Learning Lead Change and Improve Outcomes

Minneapolis, MN―eLumen, the all-in-one platform that helps institutions of higher learning and all individual stakeholders succeed on purpose, today announced the launch of a suite of professional services designed to leverage the effectiveness of instructors and enhance the accomplishments that take place on campuses across the world every day. These services will support colleges and universities in their efforts to better understand and utilize the technology solutions across campus, access more timely and insightful performance data, enhance accreditation and compliance practices, give students better visibility into their mastery of key skills, and much more.

“At eLumen, our focus is to help institutions facilitate student achievement that is foundational―guiding the pathway to mastery of key skills in a fashion that provides a course to something greater. That’s why we work to provide resources and technology to connect what’s possible for all stakeholders, expanding and enhancing the expectations of what education should be,” said Joel Hernandez, CEO of eLumen. “Our new professional services build on what we’ve already achieved through our platform by addressing institutions’ needs in educational technology, curriculum, assessment management, and student pathways. These services, delivered in-person or remotely by experienced practitioners, will help institutions introduce a sense of control of complex processes and gain confidence in the value they can deliver to students.”

eLumen’s professional service engagements range between three to five days in duration and can be delivered on or offsite. This includes the COVID-19 Toolkit, a customizable package of services created to support institutions through current challenges, and to prepare for success this fall and beyond. The toolkit includes training and workshop options to best prepare staff for the upcoming semester.…Read More

Class Size Matters: Understanding the Link Between Class Size and Student Achievement

The discussion about the importance of class size has been ongoing for decades. While some still argue that class size doesn’t make a noticeable difference in the quality of education, research has shown that is not the case. Understanding the connection between class size and student achievement, as well as teacher retentions, is critical to the future of our educational system.

The Link Between Class Size and Achievement

Research into the impact of class size on student achievement has been ongoing for decades. According to an article in the Seattle Times, the effects “have been hard to isolate and measure,” which has led to disagreements over the results. The article suggested the disagreement may have more to do with benefits outweighing the costs as opposed to actual effectiveness. In fact, The National Center for Education Statistics points out that after the 2008 recession, pupil-teacher ratio increased.

Even with some disagreement about the cost effectiveness of chasing the benefits of small class size, most researches agree that it does have a positive impact, particularly on students in younger grades.…Read More

Spotty internet access for rural students limits achievement

Technology and internet access for rural students in some parts of the U.S. is unreliable at best, and this limited access could adversely affect their learning.

Rural students are less likely than non-rural students to claim that their home internet access is “great” (36 percent versus 46 percent).

Home internet access for rural students is vital for learning, as report after report consistently identify the growing homework gap as detrimental to student achievement.…Read More

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4 evidence-based ways parents improve student achievement

In recent years, the push for educators to base teaching policies and practices in evidence has been growing stronger. Topics like seat time, retention, class size, and learning styles have all come under scrutiny because research indicates they don’t influence student achievement as much as we’d like. As the new school year begins, it’s worth taking a look at the evidence in a commonly overlooked area—parent involvement—so we can maximize what matters for student achievement.

It’s widely accepted that students whose parents are involved in their education do better in school. In fact, that link is so strong that districts often have policies to encourage parental involvement. The good news is that it’s difficult to find a way parents engage with schools that has a harmful effect on students, but there are four things parents can do that have a greater impact on achievement than anything else: parent tutoring, supporting homework, communicating expectations about learning, and academic socialization.

1. Encourage parents to actively teach their students
We often assume all good teaching comes from teachers, but parents can be great teachers too. Research into reading acquisition found that training parents to teach their children to read was better than teaching parents to listen to their children read aloud or having parents read aloud to their children. An earlier study in 2006 showed similar results for every content area and age level, no matter how long the tutoring sessions were or what kind of instruction or modeling was provided to the parents.…Read More

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Nope! Why adaptive software is not the same as personalized learning

Sorry, adaptive software is not the same as personalized learning.

We all know that changes in public education move slowly, but there’s one specific educational dilemma we’ve been mired in for decades, with varying levels of rhetoric and hand-wringing: How can we maximize individual student achievement with group instruction?

This is what Education Secretary Arne Duncan was talking about in 2010 when he called for “transformational productivity reforms that can also boost student outcomes.” Over the last century, we’ve put a lot of effort into solving this problem with varying degrees of success.…Read More

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NEA Student Achievement Grants

The NEA Foundation gives NEA members grants to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools in any subject area(s). The proposed work should engage students in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen their knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work should also improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. Deadlines for applications are due February 1, June 1, and October 15 each year.

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